Sofia Electrical Public Transport

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Project ID 39606

Status Complete

Location

Bulgaria

Business Sector

Municipal Infrastructure

Notice Type

State

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Project ID 39606

Status Complete

Location

Bulgaria

Business Sector

Municipal Infrastructure

Notice Type

State

Environmental Category

Approval Date

16 Jun 2009

Disclosure date

14 Apr 2009

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

Project Description

The EBRD is considering providing a loan of up to EUR 18 million to Sofia Electric Transport Company (SETC or “the Company”) in order to support the Company’s priority investment programme with the procurement of new trolleybuses and rehabilitation of traction power substations. It will assist the City of Sofia in addressing the remaining restructuring and sector reform issues including the development of a Strategic Plan for transport service provision, determination of the optimal organisation and regulatory structure for transport service provision and the further corporatisation of SETC specifically by introducing a revised Public Service Contract (PSC).

Transition Impact

The sources of transition impact are:

Market-based approach to tariffs, fares concessionary fares
The project will support a number of actions for improving the Public Service Contract (PSC) signed between the Municipality and the Sofia Electric Transport Company (SETC) bringing it to the level of best EU practices and in accordance with the applicable directives.
Corporatisation and ownership
The project includes the provision of consultancy services to SETC to operate on a commercial basis with full cost recovery at operational level from fares and other own revenues. It will also help the company to put in place a long-term business plan, including capital investment planning.
Sector reforms
The project will support Sofia Municipality in the adoption of a Strategic Plan for transport services provision as well as further private sector involvement in providing bus services.

The Client

The beneficiary of the project is the Sofia Electric Transport Company (SETC) which is wholly owned by Sofia Municipality.

In 2008 SETC transported 198 million passengers and is considered the main transport operator for the centre of the City. At peak hours, it operates 298 trams on a network of 159 kilometres distributed over 17 lines as well as 106 trolleybuses on 93 kilometres distributed over 9 lines.

The company owns, operates and maintains all existing trolleybus lines, as well as the electrical supply infrastructure (substations, overhead catenary, etc.).

EBRD Finance

EBRD loan to SETC of up to EUR 18 million.

Project Cost

The project cost is estimated to EUR 21.6 million.

Environmental Impact

Screened B/1 under EBRD's 2003 Environmental Policy. The Project will contribute to improving public transport reliability, safety and efficiency as well as to reducing traffic congestion and vehicle emissions in the City with associated air quality benefits. Environmental due diligence consisted of a corporate environmental, health and safety audit of the Company and its existing facilities and operations, as well as an analysis of the proposed priority investment programme.

The due diligence has confirmed that the Company and its operations are in compliance with the applicable Bulgarian environmental, health and safety and labour requirements. The project and ESAP have been structured to meet Bulgarian and EU environmental, social, health and safety standards.

An Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) to manage and mitigate potential environmental and social risks and liabilities associated with the existing facilities and planned investment programme has been prepared based on the results of the due diligence. The ESAP has been agreed with the Company for implementation during the Project. The ESAP includes measures for improvement of the Company's existing facilities and operations, such as improvement of the oil storage and handling facilities and procedures and provision of secondary containment; update of the Company’s Waste Management Programme and waste management permit to include additional types of waste and temporary waste storage sites; inspection and repair/renovation of aspiration and ventilation systems at the depots to ensure adequate capacity; renovation of accumulator battery maintenance workshops at selected depots; minimization of asbestos-containing dust pollution during rectifying station rehabilitation; proper storage and handling of construction waste including oil-contaminated and asbestos-containing materials during rectifying station rehabilitation; working with municipal and traffic authority to organise operation of mobile (container) rectifying station during RS rehabilitation.

Further actions associated with the proposed investment programme include safe decommissioning and disposal of the old trolleybus units; safe handling and disposal of hazardous wastes such as the used transformer oil generated from the rectifying station rehabilitation activities; proper handling and disposal of electrical equipment waste; preparing and formally adopting a comprehensive environmental monitoring plan for the company’s depots and RS. Also the Company will be required to carry out risk analyses and monitoring of the safe working conditions for each new workstation, in particular for drivers of the trolleybuses and for operators of the new rectifying station equipment.

The Bank's public disclosure requirements for B-level projects under the EBRD's 2003 Environmental Policy will be met before the Final Review.

Technical Cooperation

EBRD TC Donor grants during project implementation are estimated at:

TC for the Corporate Development of Sofia Public Electrical Transport Company JSC and development of operational practices to meet the performance targets and obligations under the Public Service Contract - EUR 196,760 – to be financed by the Government of Spain
TC for Regulatory Improvement to support Sofia municipality with a Public Transport Regulation and Restructuring Programme (the “PTRP”) - EUR 289,105 – to be financed by the Government of Spain.

The estimated funds to be made available during the project preparation phase stand at EUR 0.03 million.

PSD last updated

01 Feb 2019

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement: Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy (PIP)

The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Public Information Policy page below to find out how to request a Public Sector Board Report.
Text of the PIP

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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